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Thursday, March 30, 2017

What’s the current impact of construction on the environment?

It
is thought that around half of all non-renewable resources we use are used in
construction. It’s this fact that makes it one of the least sustainable
industries on the globe.

But construction is of course, is a
complete necessity. Everything from the roads we travel on to the houses in
which we live need to be constructed, and usually, the materials needed to
construct them are non-renewable. So how do we pivot and change our
construction methods and materials to have less of a damaging effect on the environment
around us and create a sustainable world for future generations?

Traditional construction methods are
affecting the environment in a number of ways:

Global
warming and climate change: Over the past 100 years
the Earth has warmed. This can be attributed to an increase in the
concentration of certain greenhouse gases, chief of which is carbon dioxide,
which is most often produced when a fossil fuel is burnt to produce energy. In
the UK around half of the national energy use is related to the construction
industry. Fossil fuel energy is used in producing materials, the construction
process, and by the occupants of a building throughout its life.

Resource
depletion: Construction, as an industry, often uses
stone and primary aggregates. Through extracting these resources major damage
to the ecosystem, local habitat, and landscape occurs.

Pollution
to the natural environment: Within construction,
pollution to the environment happens in a number of ways. From sewage &
waste from a construction site to pollution caused by the manufacturing of
materials for a construction site -
each activity poses a risk of introducing pollutants and potentially toxic
materials to the local environment, workers on site, the neighbourhood, and the
wildlife.

Land-use
and conservation: Through construction and
interaction with land-use the biodiversity of particular sites can be ruined.
Quarrying operations can push traffic numbers up and even in completed
developments the day to day use of new buildings or projects can severely harm
a fragile local environment.

What is sustainable construction?

For the first time in human history, over
half the world’s population now live in urban environments, urban environments
that heavily rely on construction that drains resources and severely impact the
surrounding environment. The problem is that it’s getting worse. Urban
populations are growing the world over, requiring more and more from
construction. There has never before been such a need to consider new ideas in
the way we construct houses, shopping centres, roads, offices, car parks, train
stations, and more.

Sustainable construction is all about
utilising the latest in these ideas to create buildings that do little to no
harm to the environment. The aim is to meet our present-day demands for
infrastructure, housing, and places of work without compromising the
environment for future generations. Sustainable development looks to take on
three broad themes known as the ‘triple bottom line’. They are: environment,
social, and economic accountability.

The payoff and the drawbacks

The benefits of sustainable construction
are obvious, but one issue often cited is that of cost. Modern technologies,
appliances, and methods often cost more money to use and implement. The
reality, however, is that while the up-front cost is higher the overall
life-cycle cost is significantly lower. Not to mention the broader advantages
of reduced greenhouse gases. Studies
have also found that productivity in workers operating within green buildings
is higher - a cleaner, healthier, and brighter workspace makes a much happier
workforce.

Worldwide there are currently a number of
organisations that have developed codes, rating systems, and standards.
Governments can now use these codes and standards to help implement sustainable
construction into their practices.

There are rating systems used within each
country. For example, the UK has a system called BREEAM. The United States uses
one named LEED and Spain, VERDE. These systems award credits for optional
features of a building that support green initiatives such as water
conservation or building materials.

What does the future hold?

Now we understand the importance of green
& sustainable building, it’s time to look to its future. What trends could
emerge? Which countries will embrace the technologies and skill-sets that
sustainable buildings require? Whose technology could change the construction
industry?

In the past few years we have seen a
stronger increase in retrofit energy efficiency rather than energy efficient
new-builds. This signifies that even in existing building sites we’re looking
to adapt ourselves to help create a sustainable world. It also shows that
there’s a better understanding than ever before that, in the long-run,
sustainable buildings sap less energy, which in turn saves homeowners,
businesses, and governments money.

We mentioned earlier the rating systems
used around the world. As sustainable construction moves forward, the
competition amongst such rating systems can only help move them forward.
BREEAM, for example, isn’t just used within the UK, but is marketed across
Western Europe, Mexico, and could soon enter use in the US.

As we start to really feel the impact of
global warming it’s becoming clearer how important it is to implement greener
methods. Because of this, governments the world over are putting the pressure
on construction companies to implement greener methods and technology with
every build. This, we hope, should help influence a rapid increase in
sustainable builds in cities across the globe.